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BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY COURSES
STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF NUCLEIC ACIDS
Term 1 Fall semester 2014
Study period: September 01, 2014 October 24, 2014
Course Classification: Science, Technology, and Engineering
Course Description
The course emphasizes quantitative aspects of the DNA and RNA science. It covers all aspects of the field: mathematical, chemical, physical, biological and engineering. Biophysical models used in the field are covered. Special at attention is given to biotechnology application of the DNA and RNA science.
The goal of the course is to give the students with physical, mathematical and engineering background the in-depth knowledge and understanding of structure of DNA and RNA, DNA and RNA biophysics and biological functions of DNA and RNA and their biotechnology applications.
Intended Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:
Name main chemical and physical features of nucleic acids and their structures including: duplexes, triplexes and quadruplexes
Describe fundamental role of DNA and RNA in the cell, including main cellular processes: replication, transcription and translation.
Apply their knowledge to main biotechnology tools of DNA and RNA, such as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), Real Time PCR, DNA chips, anti-gene and anti-sense gene silencing, RNAi technology, in vivo gene edit-ing, etc.
Calculate DNA and RNA biophysical characteristics, such as equilibrium melting temperature of the double helix, the kinetics of strand separation for specific DNA sequences, DNA bending and torsional flexibility, the formation of unusual structures (Z-form, cruciform, H-form) in super-coiled DNA, etc.
Design PCR primers and probes, design probes capable of forming triplexes with target sequences, etc.
Evaluate the most appropriate physical method(s), out of many (X-ray crystallography, Nuclear Magnetic Reso-nance (NMR), electron microscopy, cryo-electron micros-copy, gel electrophoresis, optical methods, fluorescence, etc.), to solve the problem of interest.
Number of ECTS credits: 3
Course instructors: Maxim Frank-Kamenetskii
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